Wk 1: Hartman & McKay (1995) Planet. Space Sci.. Oxygenic photosynthesis and the oxidation state of Mars. , 43, 123-128.

Wk 2: Methane on Mars. We will review: Mumma et al. (2009) Strong release of methane on Mars in Northern Summer 2003, Science 323, 1041-1054. (Note also their supplementary materials.)
I also suggest easier-to-read background material: The mystery of methane on Mars and Titan, Atreya (2007) Sci. Am.

Wk 3:
Sessions et al. (2009) The Continuing Puzzle of the Great Oxidation Event.
Wk 4:
Trainer et al. (2006) Organic haze on Titan and the Early Earth
Wk 5:
Allen et al. (2008) Sedimentary challenge to Snowball Earth
Wk 6:
Sleep and Bird (2007) Pre-photosynthetic biospheres
Wk 7:
Xiong (2006). Photosynthesis: What color was its origin?
Wk 8:
Thanksgiving: A Review of Turkey Life and Death.
Wk 9:
Hansen et al. (2009) Biological calorimetry and the thermodynamics of the origination and evolution of life.